#HOWEVER i think adding the bigger edit can help

[ambersky0319]

Did I perhaps stay up way later than intended, technically working on a project I said I'd be working on tomorrow? While not doing the assignment for a different class that was due 2 hours ago?

Yeah

Am I hoping to further work on it?

Also yes

[d-emeter]

Types of lingerie they'd go a little feral over — plus-size!fem!reader x cod characters

Includes: Price, Soap, Ghost, Gaz, König, Graves, Alejandro, Rudy, Valeria

CW: mid/plus-size reader, photos of people wearing lingerie!, mentions of sex/sexual activities

Photos are not indicative of reader's body type/skin colour/other physical attributes! Just meant to be examples, but us bigger girls deserve some rep on here (but also why is it so hard to find cute pics of mid/plus-size girlies that aren't ads or extremely edited?)

All rights go to owners of the photos! I tried to crop out their faces as best I could <3

John Price

Price would love anything feminine. He adores when you play into his housewife kink, parading around the house in babydoll dresses and fur-lined robes (preferably sheer). He wouldn't even bother with taking the pieces off once he gets his hands on you, simply pulling and adjusting where necessary. Not above ripping either, but don't worry, he'll gladly buy you some new sets. Maybe he should get you some of those crotchless panties, poppet, would save him a lot of hassle.

Johnny 'Soap' Mactavish

Listen, as much as he loves it seeing you all dolled up, there is nothing that gets him going quicker than you in some raggedy, hole-ridden comfy clothes, preferably when they're his. His boxers framing your plump ass so nicely, digging into your flesh a bit when you move and his shirt doing nothing to hide the jiggle of your tits while your nipples poke through the fabric. If he sees you like this, his hands are all over you in a split second. God forbid your shirt is cropped, showing off your soft tummy and the underside of your breasts — you couldn't pry him off with a crowbar.

(you cannot tell me Johnny doesn't own some dumbass boxers like this)

Simon 'Ghost' Riley

In fear of repeating myself, I think Simon would also go a little dreamy-eyed over you in your comfies. Except, unlike Johnny, he loves those sweet little pj-sets you wear. He's still a little taken aback every time he comes home to you curled up on his — your — couch. The realization that he has something this sweet to come home to — that he has a home at all, hitting him like a freight train. Like Price, doesn't bother taking your pajamas off when he pounces on you. Just makes it easier for him to tuck you into bed after he's done with you.

Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick

Garters, belts, straps, buckles, the whole thing. And best believe he's the one picking them out, too. You'll randomly find boxes on your bed, the contents in different styles, colours, fabrics. He insists you model them for him, or send him pictures if he's deployed. The sets are an absolute nightmare to get into, but he'll gladly help you take them off, darlin'. Don't mind him though, if he snaps a photo or two in the process. Also loves it when you wear lingerie as part of an actual outfit. What can I say, the man loves showing you off (with the knowledge he's the only one that gets to see the full sets and everything underneath them later).

König

Anything resembling some cheap halloween costume from party city. It honestly doesn't matter to him what; sexy secretary, naughty nurse, you name it. Literally whatever. He will lose his mind a little if you go as far as to engage in some roleplay pertaining to whatever you're wearing — acting like he's your boss or your patient. Oh, a pair of animal ears can and will make his eyes roll back in his head. (He will, however, ensure that your outfits are of relatively good quality — they've gotta outlast a least a few rounds, Schatzi).

Philip Graves

Ugh, he's so nasty (affectionate). He wants you to look hyper-feminine. His perfect little all-american wife (even if you've never set foot in the usa, or don't yet wear a ring on your finger) in her hyper-feminine lingerie, waiting for her soldier to come home. Frilly bras, lacy undies and silky night dresses in white or pink or any pastel shade. He gets off on the innocence they exude — makes him want to ruin you. And then wife you up. Maybe give you a baby or two.

Alejandro Vargas

Corsets!!! Or anything somewhat structured, really. This man adores the shape of your body no matter what, and the way the corset only accentuates the curve of your waist and pushes your tits up so deliciously has him rock fucking hard. If you choose to add some thigh-highs to that with the plush fat of your thighs spilling over the edge you may as well have killed him. He also has this weird infatuation with the marks the corset leaves on your skin after you (or he) take it off.

Rodolfo 'Rudy' Parra

This poor man nearly faints the first time you wear lingerie for him (and pretty much every time after that). It doesn't particularly matter to him what it is, but he does like it when you stick to the classics: simple lacy bra and panty set. He likes that it makes you feel confident and (relatively) comfortable, as your comfort is always his number one priority. He also just thinks the simplicity of the sets helps accentuate the beauty of your body, rather than distract from it.

Valeria Garza

Anything expensive. Like, crazy expensive. She has the money, amor, why not spend it on something she enjoys? She'll make sure you only wear the highest quality fabrics (and that goes for all your clothing, by the way, she likes taking care of her girl). There are diamonds glittering all over your body, highlighting all your curves and twinkling with every move you make, and a nice string of pearls disappearing between your folds.

(I couldn't find ANY photos of this type of lingerie on bigger bodies, my apologies. Rest assured Valeria will get everything custom-made for you — remember, only the best for her girl)

[daddyslilchickenfingers2]

Kinktober (reuploaded)

Mutual Masterbation (Chris)

Request: None (but reposting for the anon who asked

Warnings: Masturbation (fingering/jacking off), riding, rough sex, dom Chris, squirting, daddy kink, use of ma/mama, friends to lovers, being super loud (Matt/Nick can definitely hear you), major fluff and aftercare at the end

Y/n’s pov

I’ve known the triplets for about two years, we started off as more so acquaintances, since I originally only helped edit their videos. However, we quickly became friends since I was at their house quite often for the footage. Once we became close friends, I started sleeping over at their house, usually sleeping on the couch instead of one of their rooms. Of course we were all friends, but Chris seemed to be more touchy with me.

Let’s use right now as an example, we’re all sitting on the couch watching a movie when Chris put his arm across the top of the couch. His arm was now behind my head, but Nick and Matt did this too so I didn’t think anything of it. That was until he scooted a bit closer so our thighs were touching and he moved his arm to wrap around my shoulders. Chris pulled me so my head was on his shoulder and he put his on top of mine.

This was different and new, I’ve never cuddled with Chris or Matt before, only Nick. I’m not complaining, I’m just a bit confused. Nonetheless, I still cuddled up next to him until everyone started going off to bed. I was getting ready to lay down on the couch when Chris asked, “Why don’t you just sleep in my room tonight? My beds gotta be more comfortable than the couch” he laughed. I contemplated the offer before agreeing since it was cold.

We went down to his room to just talk while watching tv, getting changed before plopping on Chris’ bed. We started talking about random shit, “You know what I hate? When bitches act like a dude jacking off is gross. Ugh act like they don’t fucking finger themselves and let everyone see” Chris said seriously. “What the fuck Chris! I bet you’ve never even seen a girl finger herself, so shut up!” I laughed back.

“Well not specifically for me, but I’ve watched porn” he challenged, “Chris, that’s sad! Even I’ve had a girl finger herself for me in a video and in person!” I laughed. “Never had a guy do it in front of me though…” I added after feeling the tension slowly start to rise. Chris’ eyes scanned my body for a moment, letting out a breathy “Damn…” with a long pause. “I’d totally let you watch me get myself off” he half joked.

I knew he was partially joking, but I wanted to be more of a tease, “Yeah, like I wanna watch you touch your teeny tiny dick” I rolled my eyes. Even though I was being sarcastic, Chris took this seriously, saying “My dicks not teeny tiny Y/n, it’s bigger than Matt and Nick’s so shut the fuck up unless you want me to tell everyone that one secret I swore I’d never tell a soul” the last part kinda scared me as he threatened to tell my embarrassing secret to everyone.

I’m assuming he saw the way my smile dropped and the color drained from my face because the smirk he was wearing only got bigger. “Aww does that scare you princess? Maybe you should stop acting like you think my cocks small, because you and I both know that I’m the one you’re having wet dreams about” he teased some more. I wasn’t going to let Chris try to blackmail me like that so I stood up and started walking towards his door.

“Where are you going” he asked, “As far away from you as possible, I’m not going to be fucking blackmailed over a joke I made” I said back coldly. Chris grabbed my by the wrist lightly and pushed me up against the wall, “You’re not leaving because I’m sorry, just stop calling my dick small” he said while gazing at my eyes. I begrudgingly agreed and trudged back over to his bed, sitting down and feeling the sexual tension in the air.

Chris was the first to speak after I stood up and started to take my pants off, “What the fuck are you doing?” he asked as I bent over to pull them past my ankles. “Getting comfortable, is that a problem?” I teasingly asked in a rhetorical manner. Chris gulped and shook his head when I sat back down to start a new movie, cuddling into him. About a third of the way through the movie, I turned to look at him because his breath hitched.

Shifting my gaze downward, I could see his hand slightly moving beneath the comforter, “Are you really touching yourself right now” I giggled. “I can’t help it!” he blushed heavily, “It’s only fair if I can touch myself too” I pouted, “Only if I can watch…” he bit his lip, “Do I get to watch you too?” I smirked. Chris looked over my face for a second before moving the blanket off our lower half and trailed his fingers across my thighs. “Only if you be a good girl and listen to me” he spoke lowly, voice laced with lust.

I nodded in agreement before moving so my back was against the wall, facing towards Chris who sat up against his headboard. “Tell me what you want me to do Chris” “I want you to get fucking naked and start teasing your pussy like a whore” he said gruffly, pulling my shirt over my head. “Goddamn… you’re beautiful Y/n/n, so fucking beautiful” Chris gasped as I took my panties off as well, “Your turn” I smirked back.

Only wearing his boxers, Chris was quick to get naked as well, revealing his massive cock. He was watching me as I played with my nipples, teasing myself and getting more wet in the process. “Open your legs, I wanna see your pretty little pussy. I just know you’re dripping wet for me” he said lowly, spitting on his cock in the process. “Can I touch myself yet? Please Chris? I’ll be a good girl and listen to you” I whined, desperate to feel some kind of stimulation.

Chris groaned as he started stroking his cock, “Already such a good girl, using your words. So good, asking for permission to touch yourself, go ahead baby” he smirked, biting his lip. I slipped a single finger inside of my needy pussy, moaning at the feeling and quickly adding a second one, trying to keep my focus on Chris’ big hand that was rapidly moving on his cock. The sounds in the room quickly became obscene after Chris leaned over to get lube out of his bedside table.

I watched in awe as he squirted the clear liquid directly onto his cock, hissing at the coldness before going back to rubbing his cock. “O-Oh fuck! That was so hot daddy!” I slipped out in a whiny moan, immediately saying “Sorry” before slapping my unoccupied hand over my mouth. Chris’ breath was coming out in ragged gasps, “Fuck! Fuck! God mhmm! Yes, say that again whore!” he panted out, watching my hand drop down from my mouth to my breasts.

I could tell we were both getting close and I just couldn’t take it anymore, I removed my fingers from my cunt and sat up on my knees. I moved to straddle Chris so fast that he didn’t even have time to think, “Fuck Chris, I’m so sorry!” I whined as I shoved my fingers in his mouth. I then lined myself up with his cock and started riding him like my life depended on it while Chris moaned around my fingers.

I pulled my fingers out of his mouth with a pop and almost came from his whiny moans. “Shit— Fuck, don’t be sorry! So tight, your pussy was fucking made for me!” “Oh fuck Chris! Daddy, you’re so big, shit” we both moaned. Chris groaned at the name before flipping us over, pushing my right leg up against my chest and over his shoulder before ruthlessly pounding into me.

“God you’re such a fucking slut! Taking my cock without permission, riding me like you’re in charge” he chuckled/groaned out. “Yes, yes daddy! A slut ‘m such a slut for you daddy, please can I cum!?” I incoherently moaned out, tears streaming down my face. “Beg for it bitch!” he growled, resulting in a loud almost scream-like moan form me as he was abusing my g-spot.

“Please Chris! I want to cum for you, want to cum on your cock! Daddy I need it so bad, please! Want your cum— oh… oh FUCK PLEASE I’M GOING TO CUM! PLEASE DADDY— FUCK CHRIS PLEASE!” I screamed out, my face completely soaked with tears from the pleasure. I already know I look so goddamn pathetic under him, I was being used in the best way possible and I fucking love it, the fact that Matt and Nick could probably hear us too makes it so much hotter.

“Yeah? Is my little fuck toy gonna cum? Go ahead baby, cum on my dick like a slut so I can fuck a baby in ya!” Chris moaned, moving his had down to rub my clit. Now that I had permission to cum, I did, having the most intense and mind blowing orgasm ever. I was in sensory overload, everything started going fuzzy and for some reason I felt wet, as my nails dug deep into Chris’ back, causing him to both hiss at the pain and whimper because of what he made happen.

“Fuck mama! Didn’t know you could fuckin’ squirt, holy shit! Take my fuckin’ cum like a slut!” he deeply groaned, his Boston accent really coming out as he came in me. Slowly Chris let my shaky leg down next to the other one, soothingly rubbing circles into my sides as I desperately tried to catch my breath. He started peppering soft kisses across my face as well, “You did so good mama, such a good girl for me. You’re so beyond beautiful baby” Chris praised me as my breathing slowed down and I was able to open my eyes.

“There’s those pretty y/e/c eyes! C’mon baby, let me take care of you” he softly kissed me. I felt my face heat up when I realized the sheets below me were soaking wet and starting to get cold. “Oh my god, Chris! I’m so so so sorry-“ I was quickly cut off by him picking me up and starting to walk us to the bathroom. “Don’t you dare fucking apologize for that ma, don’t ever apologize for squirting on me. That was so hot, I’ve never came so much before. You gotta pee though baby, I’ll be right back” Chris firmly said.

I did as he said before trying to stand up, instantly regretting it and letting out a small yell which resulted in Chris running over to me. “My legs hurt” I whined, “That’s why I ran you a bubble bath baby, I’m gonna take a fast shower and change the sheets while you relax then we can cuddle, okay?” he soothed me as he slowly set me in the tub while he got into the shower. Within 5 minutes, Chris was out of the shower and changing the sheets.

I was honestly falling asleep in the warm bath until Chris emerged into the bathroom with a cup. “Can I use this and wash your hair sweetheart?” he asked me gently, smiling at my fucked out face and body. “If you do it fast, ‘m so tired Chris” I pouted, looking at him with droopy eyes. He started using the cup to wet my hair before using the shampoo, rinsing it out and doing the same with the conditioner before helping me out of the tub.

I was quickly dried off and he helped me change as well as putting a loose braid in my hair so it doesn’t get tangled. My legs were so shaky and sore so Chris carried me back to his room but right before he set me down, I made a confession. “Chris…” I quietly mumbled as he laid down next to me, “Hmm?” he hummed back for me to continue. “I think I’m in love with you” I confessed, causing a big smile to spread across his dance.

Chris smiled, placing a long chaste kiss to my lips, “I’m in love with you too babygirl, you look so tired sweetheart, why don’t we go to sleep? Come ‘ere I want to cuddle!” Chris giggled, pulling me closer to him. I cuddled up into his side, placing just a few more kisses on his neck, “G’night Chris” I mumbled. “Goodnight princess, sleep well because I’m taking you out on a proper breakfast date in the morning” Chris beamed as he held me tight. With that we both started to doze off, excited for our first date in the morning.

Taglist: @aliyahsbody @angelic-sturniolos111 @biimpanicking @biplrbtch @chrisenthusiast @chrisolivia4l @christinarowie332 @chr1sgirl4life @creamoncreamoncream2 @delimeats-000 @dev-speaks @ermdontmindthisaccount @flowerxbunnie @fionaheartswomen @gilbertscurls @heartsforchrisandmatt @iheartchrissturniolo @ilovemattsturn @its-jennarose @justaslvttygirl @kvtie444 @lustfulslxt @luvysworld @m6ttsturniolo @mangosrar @mangoposts @meerkatzthings @mattsnutsack @meg-sturniolo @rac00ns-are-c00l4 @recklesssturniolo @solarsturniolo @soursturniolo @strniohoeee @strawberrysturniolo @sturniolocoded @sturniofilmd @sturniolohoe @sturniolopepsi @sturniolo0ntop @thecynthh

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Do not steal, use, or reupload my work

[onlycosmere]

Brandon Sanderson on the length of Wind and Truth

PumkinFunk:  I appreciate Brandon being self-aware about the fact that he will struggle immensely to keep the word counts down for this series.

KiwiKajitsu: If only he had a better editor

PumkinFunk:  I know this has become a common criticism since Rhythm of War after Moshe Feder retired, but I don't think it's true. One of his editors for his books is Devi Pillai, the head of Tor Publishing Group. The Secret Projects were edited in-house and generally were good. He has a lot of people giving him feedback, both in-house and outside.

jmcgit:  If Brandon wanted to work on revisions for an extra 6 months to refine and streamline the book, he could do it. This is a Brandon thing, not an editor thing. What was Brandon working on up until the last minute before he had to turn the book in? He was working on making the book bigger, squeezing in more content that he wanted to add. Brandon will tell anyone who asks that he likes to write, and dislikes revising.

When an author gets big enough, the publishers and editors lose their ability to rein in the author or make certain demands. Brandon will do what he wants, and if Tor doesn't like it, they can cancel his contract and Brandon can self-publish.

Brandon Sanderson: I realize it's difficult to see behind the veil of publishing, and much is opaque, but this isn't what I was doing during the last few months--I was cutting the book significantly. However, rough draft didn't include Interludes or Epigraphs, which is why it got longer after I cut it down. This draft lost over 60k words, but then I added in the interludes and epigraphs (along with a few key scenes I decided were needed.)

So, let's be clear about a few things. No editor has ever--in my life--cut my books down. It's not what they do. They largely haven't suggested it. Every editor, Moshe included, has always suggested things to change or add--they don't do much trimming. That's all my job, and always has been. Yes, there is a line edit, which does help trim--but I haven't stopped taking those suggestions, and usually go much, much further on a page-by-page case than they suggest.

I dislike revision, which is important for me to explain because I want people to understand that even for someone who loves their job, there are parts I don't like. But I DO it. I do A LOT of it. It's the part I have to force myself to do, but I am very good at it--and if you follow my stories about learning revision, you'll find that I very clearly explain that I didn't get published until I mastered the thing that was hardest for me. I consider my it, perhaps, my greatest strength as a writer--my ability to look at feed back and apply it to improve books.

If they get long, it's not because I've lost an editor. Moshe's strong suit was always diction, not trimming--and Gillian (who does that job now) is quite accomplished at both. She's Joe Abercrombie's editor.

I realize it's odd, because "to edit" means to trim, but an editor doesn't usually trim books--they offer suggestions for changes on the larger scope, and sometimes do a line edit pass to clarify.

Stormlight books are not big because I can't stop writing. You can pick any number of my shorter novels and see I'm quite capable of doing something at a normal book length. Stormlight books are big because that's the art I want to make--and they are not, and never have been, out of control. I am perfectly willing to accept that the story I want to tell has not appealed to some in the last installments! But don't blame my editors. This is an artistic choice of mine, and their job has never been to change the art. I get the same amount of editing now as I ever have--and I take largely the same amount of their feedback.

Note: don't take this as a direct condemnation of you or some of the things /u/KiwiKajitsu said above. It's more that I want to be very clear about my goals, and the process. My stance is one of explaining, not arguing against your opinions, as those are valid and perfectly reasonable ones to hold.

I realize that a long comment reply isn't the best way to prove I can be brief, but I sincerely think the trope of "He got big so he lost the ability to be edited" is not one that I fall into--I am, if anything, the most edited person at the industry, and see more criticism and feedback of my books prepublication than any other author. Editors and beta readers collectively wrote some 800k words of feedback for me over the last two years, which I incorporate. Not just the, "Add this" but also the "this sequence feels slow or unengaging." I am extremely passionate about listening to, and incorporating, editorial feedback.

It's fine to not like what I do. But don't blindly make the argument that I write it, kick it out the door, and don't pay attention to the revision process while ignoring editors.

jmcgit: Hey Brandon, I appreciate the insight! I regret that my post may have come off as if you carelessly "write and kick it out the door", as I know how hard you and your team have been working on the book over the past months and years, and how passionate you are about getting it right.

Brandon Sanderson: No problem and no offense taken! I just see a lot of confusion about these things.

I am edited far, far more now than when I was when I started and nobody cared. Though, admittedly, I think the most editorial scrutiny I ever got was on A Memory of Light a decade ago. I probably get less now, but I also have way more extensive beta reads.

It's just a complex process. And, you also ARE right in your initial post that I could go over it again and again, and some authors do. I'm middle of the road on the number of revisions I do, by my experience. Not as many as someone like Pat R. does. More than a lot of authors. I do not subscribe to the Heinline philosophy of only editing when required by contract that is very popular these days. (This philosophy believes that your initial artistic instinct will be right, and you shouldn't undermine it later on. I am not a fan, even if some people I respect follow this philosophy.)

Anyway, your initial post wasn't far off; I just wanted to offer some more context for this thread.

[shawsimmer]

hi! do you have any tips on how to make teenagers look like actual teenagers? venus looks so good!

hi!! so i don't use the preteen mod, but i do use the shortest height preset from this set by luumiasims. so far there really isn't a huge animation issue because her friends are using the same preset and other animations with adults/kids (like hugging) don't look that bad. however, i'm noticing that there are some clipping issues when trying to pose her, though. i hate how teens are the same height as adults and i really wanted to play out the preteen/early teen life stage with the girls. other than the height preset, i think i just made her eyes bigger and cheeks fuller. i think adding blush and braces also make her look younger. i try to use hairstyles and accessories that look "younger", but tbh i'm having a hard time finding clothes for her atm. here's a photo to show what the shortest height preset looks like standing next to an adult and a child. i hope this was helpful!

more asks under the cut!!

byeee this is so funny. i forget i never really posted the beginning parts of this save so not many know the lore of these three. oh god, i'm gonna yap for a bit. short story of their relationship is eva & kato got together in their early 20s and were going to have a son named saturn, but sadly eva had pregnancy complications and they lost the baby. unfortunately, it made things really difficult in their relationship and they decided to break up. during their time apart, eva meets judah and falls in love, but she ends up cheating on him multiple times with kato (even the night before she got married to judah ) and they literally wouldn't stay away from each other. years later after both girls were born, she confesses to judah and they take time apart. i know what you are probably thinking, how tf does this end in the big happy family we have now? eva basically made it known that kato is her soulmate and she could never really be done with him. they would have never broken up if not for the loss of their son, but she was also so in love with judah and the family they had created together. she proposed the throuple idea (lmao the audacity) and both kato and judah were veryyyy hesitant, but ultimately, they both loved her so much that they decided being with her was worth it. at first, they decided to just move in together and kept their relationships with eva separate. ngl it was such a weird and tense time in my game and they would constantly get jealous/upset with each other. i ended up using a mod allowing more than one partner and things settled down. after some time living together the guys realized they actually fw each other and they were lowkey bestiess. they have been together #challengers style a few times, but they usually tend to be romantic with eva separately. i know it's a weird situation, but now i'm happy with how things turned out. no one holds any ill feelings towards each other and all three of them just really enjoy doing life together and parenting the girls the best they can. there's soo much more to it, but i tried to keep it as short as i could lol.

totally!! you don't have to credit me, but i would like to seee

hmm i'm not really sure. i normally label my sims as maxis-mix. maybe more alpha? i think i prefer alpha skin details and clothes over mm. my build/buy cc is a good mix. it's nice not having to force myself into one style

ty :)) i don't really play legacy challenges. having rules sometimes ruins the gameplay for me, though i do think they are super useful when it comes to using/playing with certain features of packs that i wouldn't mess with otherwise. i tried nsb 2.0, but i'm still on gen one lmao. sorry i don't really have any to recommend.

hi!! it's actually really easy if you have sims4studio and a photo editing software. i use photoshop. first i find either a painting or photo frame that i like, then i export the diffuse map in s4s. i take the png file and basically paste my photos on top of whatever was in the frame (in photoshop) and then i import it back into s4s & save. if you want an in-depth tutorial i could definitely make one, but there are also a lot of great ones here on tumblr and youtube.

had to ask my bf about this lol. i have 0 idea what any of this means:

cpu: amd ryzen 5 3600, ram: 16gb ddr4, gpu: rtx 3060, 1tb m.2 nvme ssd (x2), motherboard: asus prime b550-plus, 650w power supply

i think i've had this account since 2018, but i didn't start to really use it until around 2022. i was suuuuper involved in the simsta community at the time. i was always kind of intimidated by tumblr (and the people here) and didn't really know how to use it. now that just seems funny.

well, first i think i should mention that i absolutely do get bored and experience burn out. sometimes i don't touch the game for months. i feel like this is common and i know a lot of my friends experience it too, so don't feel bad about it.

not sure how great my cas advice is considering i feel like i make the same sim over and over, but one thing that helps me keep things fresh is using cc, presets, and aesthetics that i don't normally use. i find myself using the same skin details a lot and things can get boring. use that hair that you never touch, try out different aesthetics, mix and match different skin details together, utilize different sliders, pick a fun hair color, try different makeup styles!

when it comes to keeping gameplay interesting, my advice is to try not to micromanage everything. i knowww it can be difficult, especially if you have a certain storyline in your head, but i feel like if you control every little thing, it's easy to lose steam and things can get boring or unenjoyable fast. it's really fun to let your sims tell their own story and it keeps you guessing what will happen next, especially when they decide to do things you wouldn't normally choose for them. for example, when eva had her pregnancy complications it took everything in me not to cheat it away, but some of my sims wouldn't even have been born had i not let things play out. another example is when she decided to be unfaithful. it's not something i'd normally want my sims to do, but it created a whole different story that has been so interesting to play. also let your sims have flaws! not everyone is a saint. let them be mean, let them fail, and let them develop their own personalities as you play. i pay attention to their whims and choose to do the things they want. when my sims age up, i like to use the randomizer on their traits and pretend it's fate. now this isn't to say i don't have some storylines or things that i'd like them to do planned out, i just wouldn't recommend planning their entire life out all at once, you know? but this is what keeps things interesting for me, it may not be for everyone :)

as for the right time to take screenshots, it depends on your personal preference and what you want photographed. i personally take screenshots of my sims doing everything so much that i feel like a proud parent. every once in a while, i go through my screenshot folder from the beginning of my save and watch everything back like a movie :'). when it comes to actually posing my sims for a screenshot, i like to keep it to a minimum because setting everything up can sometimes take me out of gameplay mode lol. i really only pose them when i want to take photos to decorate their home or if there's a pose i really want to use to tell a story.

hi!! this is so nice :')) thank you!

i don't really have anything specific when it comes to posting on tumblr, other than using hashtags that help others see your posts. i don't care about numbers or anything like that. i post whenever i want, sometimes multiple times a day and sometimes once a month. i feel like as long as you are posting what you love, the right audience/community will find you. definitely interact with people in the community! there's so many creative people here that inspire me all the time. if you have specific questions about how to put sims up for download (like exporting their files) or anything like that, feel free to dm me! i'm happy to help. :)

ooo okay, so presets help a ton. northernsiberiawinds has some head presets and i use #8 all the time and it gives the head a narrower shape. here is a gif showing how i use sliders to pull the face down because i honestly don't know how to explain it in words and figured a visual would be of more help anyway. hope this helps! <3

[mountkennedie]

Plants

Loki x reader

Summary: you visit Loki in his personal library

warnings: Loki season 2 reference (sorry BUT I HAD TO), fluff

A.N. gender fluid Loki means everything to me

The young prince of Asgard had many places he frequented. His room, of course, everyone loves their room. A certain shadowed place in the kingdom gardens that he thinks only he knows about. And lastly, in the place he was in now, the library. For his birthday, it had been gifted to him. There already was a library in the palace. This was really just a smaller version of it. However, this one supplied only his favorite genres, and when that idea was proposed, I don't think the person was aware of Loki's reading history. He has many favorite genres, and space in the smaller library was filled quickly.

You had nothing better to do to spend your time. And usually that meant you would find your best friend of many years. Contrary to popular belief, you knew to check the library first. It makes sense to go to his room, but you know better. He didn't actually have many books in his room. It was a guideline set by his mother so that he would sleep at night instead of read the hours away. All the books inside had been read cover to cover so many times he could probably recite them at any given moment.

Approaching the doors, there were two guards standing watch. "Is Loki in today?" You knew their names, and honestly, more than you probably should for the royal guards. Their jobs were protection, not chatter. But who could resist a little break from that strict code? Especially when you would ask the most random yet interesting questions you could think of.

"If you had the choice of only being able to see one color for the rest of your days, which one would you choose?"

"My lady, I have been advised to limit conversation that does not concern the safety of the kingdom. But also a nice blue would not be bad."

"Yes, my lady, he is. Would you prefer an introduction?" He asked.

"That won't be necessary." They both nodded their heads and opened the doors for me to enter. The room was beautifully lit. The lanterns were a lovely touch, with the edition of the small candles added a very cozy feeling. Luckily, the windows in the corners of the room had been cracked. Neither of you could stand the smell of standing smoke. There were two couches in the center of the room. They were large and rather dramatic, the edition of the green velvet cushions added to the atmosphere.

Upon one to those couches was the one you had been looking for. Stretched out on the right couch, new book in hand. The title was something you couldn't make out. Their fingers covered it perfectly. "You know you can ask instead of trying to sneakily figure it out," they quipped. They finally looked up and smirked at you.

You helped yourself to sit down on the adjacent couch. "No, I am good with sneaking glances," you replied in a similar tone.

He huffed and placed his book down on the table. "Is there nothing interesting going on in the palace? That is why you violate my one place of solace?" He kept his tone light, so you knew his cruel words were nothing but words.

"Oh, I just knew you missed my presence so much. I had to cease your worries and needs." The pair of you could go on for hours if you both wanted. But instead of that, you needed him to answer something. "Loki, if you were a plant, what plant would you be?"

"That's what has been plaguing you today?" She sat up, and you mirrored her. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, "If I was a plant..."

"I have an idea of what I think you'd be, but I still am curious as to what you think." You rested your head on your hands facing him. Your smile of amusement gleamed on your face. You loved watching her in deep thought.

"Well, help me out. What would you be?" Their smile matched yours. It grew bigger when your brows knitted in concentration.

"I think I would be a fern. A nice pretty fern with a big wide leaf span. I would make all the other ferns jealous," You finished your sentiment with a theatrical voice. You had been thinking of this for a little bit. And by a little bit, it was really what you were thinking about on the way here.

"I could easily see you passing as a fern. As for me... I can see myself as some form of tree. Maybe a weeping willow or a variation of it." When he finished his thought, he looked back down at you.

"I was thinking more of a strong oak tree, growing tall and providing shade for anyone lucky enough to walk near you." He looked at you after you said that. Not with the typical look of a friend, but of something more weighted. You could really only hope that was what you were seeing. The growing feelings of adoration towards the god had only gotten more intense over time. You've heard of many seeing the world through rose colored glasses. You could wish that your vision was clear.

"Thank you," They looked like they wanted to say more. And you implored they would. But instead, you both continued the intense eye contact you both had been holding. The air was too thick for your lungs to carry. You wanted them to make the first move because you were frozen. "Y/n?"

Your name was spoken in the way a lover would address another. You said a silent prayer that your eyes were not scarlet sensitive in this moment. "Loki?" Your voice was barely stronger than a whisper. He stood and approached your couch. You stood up and moved to be in front of him.

"It is my turn to ask you something." He took a deep breath and took your hands in his. "I need to know now, have your feelings toward me ever been more than... platonic?" His eyes were full of fear. But you also could see how badly he needed to hear your response.

You managed to get one gust of air inside your long awaiting lungs. You looked into his eyes one last time as a friend, then said, "Yes."

He blinked twice as the clarity rolled over him. His hands lightly squeezed yours, "Even now?" His voice was something you had never heard before. It was frail and desperate. You nearly wanted to apologize for putting him through such torment.

You thought of your next words thoroughly. "Especially now," you squeezed his hands back in the same manner. She sighed and shut her eyes. You did the same, and you both rested your foreheads on the others. Without word, your both tilted your heads up and let your lips collide.

You were not sure who sighed into the kiss, but it was still an accurate representation of the need for action. It stayed slow, but not any less passionate as a kiss of messy fire. When you both pulled apart, your hands stayed conjoined. No one spoke. No words could describe what was flowing between you two.

Eyes closed and lips locked yet again. Again and again and again.

[unsanctioned-if]

Writing Update 1/2 - 2025

January has, unfortunately, been a bit of a crash start. Not only did I fracture my wrist two weeks ago, but I also got the flu only a week later. Needless to say, I haven't been able to work much on the IF during this time.

The good news is that my hand is getting better and the mobility in my fingers has improved significantly; I can now write on my own instead of using voice to speech, if only for short periods at the time.

Since I'm also starting to properly recover from the flu I've been able to do a little bit more than before. Though the pace is slow, I'm just happy that I'm able to get back to it little by little.

My main focus for now is still fixes, polishing and editing + the profile, codex and spellbook, then I'll move on to adding more content or editing existing content more thoroughly. I'll make an announcement once the demo is fully done and then I'll continue to write the rest of chapter 2.

I experimented with adding more content to the backgrounds, but to be honest I think they are probably long enough as they are haha. I think I've mentioned it before but they were supposed to be quite short (10k words at most) but ended up around 17k - 20k words in total. I'm still going to include one or two additonal options for the scavenger background, but once that's done I think I'll probably leave them as they are, or come back to them later if there are bigger changes I want to include.

Another writing update will be posted end of February/beginning of March :)

I'll list the changes I've made so far under the cut for those interested (might contain slight spoilers!). Thank you so, so much again to everyone who has been reporting these, you're such a big help and I appreciate all of you <3

Changed Fri's fate depending on certain choices in chapter 2.

Fixed errors where some choices did not have a "continue" button in chapter 1.

Edited and polished the writing for the summoning for all backgrounds.

Fixed some stuff in the "spellbook" section to make it available only once you reach chapter 2 + added information about different types of magic. However the page is still a WIP and I'm slowly working on completing it.

Fixed an error where you were set as another background if you clicked "no" at the choice of background and instead picked another one.

Added the option for the nomad to be more shy or outgoing with strangers.

Added a unique interaction between nomad!MC and Cirern at the end of the lesson scene in chapter 1.

Fixed accidental repetitions in the aristocrat background (hopefully all of them).

Fixed a continuity error in chapter 2 regarding the Garm.

[0verthemo0n]

this is what you wanted... right?

This all happened in my dream. I thought of making it and also adding things that weren't in my dream. I hope you enjoy

Warning: deaths, really sad, i think, please don't get angry at me it was a dream, please!!!, there will be a part 2. EDit: Sorry, but the reader is not born yet by bad.

-------------------‐-----------------------------------

Ramattra won, he defeated The Talon and their corrupted leader, ending their vile schemes, a perfect punishment for taking the life of his fallen brother, Mondatta. Next, he took down overwatch, forcing those to disband.

However, some chose to fight back, but none won the battle and perished. The first to go down was Reinhardt. He refused to disband and try to fight ramattra. Although Reinhardt had many advantages, he failed to realize ramattra was more tactical than a brute.

Brigitte quickly joined in the fight and tried to save Reinhardt. Torbjourn screamed at her name, trying to stop her from getting killed, ramattra never intended to hurt or kill her, but she got into the heat of the battle, the last thing she ever saw was ramattra fist.

Torbjourn saw his daughter's head get splattered from impact, this caused torbjourn to go rogue and tried to kill ramattra.

Ramattra felt sorry for the old man, a parent should've have never watch their children die before them, he gave torbjourn a quick death.

"I am sorry" ramattra spoke, he indeed felt somewhat guilty, looking down at torbjourn dead corpse, he carries torbjourn's corpse placing him next to his daughter, hoping in the afterlife they can hold each-other again.

The rest of the overwatch heroes disbanded, some went vigilante while others try to live a normal life. Pariah and Ana argued about not stopping ramattra, Ana kept convincing her not to go rogue, but Pariah never listened.

Tracer tries to live a normal life with her girlfriend, as her girlfriend comforts her. Knowing tracer like the back of her hand.

Other heroes like Winston kept trying to bring back overwatch together but no one listened only tracer and Mei, juno thought of joining in, but Mei quickly stops her, not wanting to put her to danger.

Everything was normal but not the same like before....

back to what happened, with other factions

Vishkar was sort of different. They secretly try to work with ramattra but ramattra was no fool, he saw how corrupted they were, believing they were worse than Talon themselves. When he told them to change their ways, some refused and not even a month or week, the cooperation shut down quickly. No one knows what happened to them.

But junkers had the worst, for none made it out Alive, all the junkers were ripped apart by omnics seeking out revenge and hatred, many were humiliated, killed, and tortured. Junkrat, roadhog tried to protect the queen but were killed in the process.

The champion himself was forced to leave but he refused and fought back only for his sphere to get destroyed and now is a hamster in the cage... atleast they feed him well ...

And lastly junker queen, was humiliated by ramattra, she was more difficult but with the help but all his allies it didn't take long for ramattra to break her and give her a gruesome death.

After many wars, forcing many governments and militaries to give up, ramattra begins a new era with a help of Maximilian on his side, of course Ramattra knew how much a greedy omnic he is but ramattra needed him to get more factions to work with him, and Maximilian was good at that.

Years went on and on, and a few heroes passed away, including hammond. Null Sector became bigger and bigger and made a few companies and companions. But Ramattra's grew more corrupted by so much power. It made him too prideful and a cruel leader.

But that change when Zenyatta showed up to Ramattra office, Ramattra was delighted and hoping his brother would show up. Ramattra, let's Zenyatta enters the building

Zenyatta looks around. The inside looks dull with purples highlights and, of course, weapons and armor, two big omnics lead Zenyatta to Ramattra office.

"Brother..." A deep, raspy voice, the office door opens for zenyatta, the two omnics leave to go back guarding the entrance of null Sector. Ramattra stands tall but relaxed.

Ramattra leads his brother in his office, zenyatta sits on one of the chairs, a little surprised how comfortable the chair is... has a nice look, too.

But ramattra looked different. He was more buffer and slightly bigger. He changed his old monk clothes, it was no longer orange but purple but greyish. It looked more fancy and authority like, with armor bracers that had purple highlights, and of course, the Null Sector symbol on the right armor shoulder plate.

At first, everything was going well, until zenyatta mentioned how his rules were... not suitable for humans, and that slightly ticked ramattra. The argument was calm, but it went on and on and more heated. Zenyatta tried to reason, but Ramattra kept trying to counter it.

"Brother, this isn't to you offend. Your rules are hurting them. They're slowly dying," Zenyatta said, his voice was calm but trying to make ramattra understand that his rules were ruthless.

"My rules are to make omnics live a better life" ramattra snarls, he's not letting zenyatta win this argument.

"But are harming the human life aswell" Zenyatta counters back, he hopes ramattra can understand but ramattra was stubborn to understand.

"Then they will have to adapt, and bare it" ramattra said with no hesitation.

"Adapt to a rule that can never truly be adapted" Zenyatta said, his voice sounding more and disappointed.

The argument kept getting gor heated, to the point ramattra lashes out, something Zenyatta was not ready, and something ramattra will regret for the rest of his life.

Zenyatta didn't had time to dodge, or block as he felt his faceplate hit by ramattra fist, this impact blasted him few feet away, Ramattra realizing what he done, he quickly ran up to his brother.

But Zenyatta got up by himself up and lifted his hand to stop Ramattra from getting near him. And slowly, Zenyatta turns to look at Ramattra...

Ramattra looked at his brother he felt guilt all over him. If his faceplate could make emotions it would be in shock.

Zenyatta faceplate was not only damaged, but the left side of Zenyatta optic was destroyed. The circuit was sparking slightly but soon stopped.

Zenyatta didn't really think ramattra could go this far but now he does.

"B... Brother i-" Ramattra was cut off by Zenyatta lifting his hand up once again, Zenyatta finally realized that the Brother he knew is no longer himself and grew to be too prideful like doomfist himself.

"No... t-t-there's no need... I've b-B-believed my presence c-c-Caused enough trouble as it d-ddid.... I'll take my leave... B-b-Brother..." Zenyatta spoke, even his voice box was broken from the harsh impact, his voice sounding glitchy.

Zenyatta slowly walks out of his office all the way out of Null Sector. Some omnics seemed to know what happened and went to check if ramattra was alright, which ramattra brushed them off.

Once he was alone again, he looked out the window. He slowly walked to his right, leading himself to a giant screen, he looks at the screen, revealing the city he created. He saw omnics living the life they wanted, while the humans who also lived but their isn't much like it use to be.

There was hardly a single human around, only two or three but not enough, he sees a human, teenager walking only to gett dragged into the alleyways. He can already tell what will happen next.

He keeps watching the screen, showing many ways of humans dying. Some were innocent others were not.

It's slowly and slowly started to look... similar...

To human violence...

Ramattra looks down at his curved staff, holding the orb of discord...

His optics were on the orb, then slowly looking back at the screen...

He won, but not in the way he hoped for...

.

.

Zenyatta travels once again, helping others. Many ask for guidance, and others brush him off.

His travels were difficult, but he managed. When he finally found a spot to rest, he looked up at the sky, the stars were everywhere once again, and the city lights were gone.

Both omnics wonder...

Will they see each other again.... or will violence break them apart forever...

[stargazer-sims]

House In A Tree - Photo Tour & Download

This lot was inspired by @cawthorntales wondering if it'd be possible to build a house in a tree. Although this is technically a house in 4 trees, it is indeed possible to put an entire house up in the air, and here is the result.

This build does have a handful of CC decorations (5 packages in all), but the structure and landscaping is mostly done with base game items, with a few build elements from Cats & Dogs and Cottage Living thrown in. The mailbox is from the Werewolves GP, and I think the pool ladder may be from Get Together, but anything that doesn't show up can be changed for something else.

All the CC deco items are either made by me (2) or are free and publicly available content made by someone else (3). For convenience, I'm including the CC in the download since it is all free stuff anyway.

I have this on a 30x20 lot, but you could put it on a bigger one if you wanted more forest around it.

It has two lot challenges - Spooky and Wild Foxes

Here are some outside views with a couple of the trees removed, just to provide a better look at the house itself:

... and here it is with all the trees in place:

The pond underneath is actually a pool, so it's swimmable. I made a custom water mask for it so it looks more like pond water. Your sims can swim with swans, and there are some fireflies along the edge, to help light up the night.

This lot also has ambient light, so if you download it and decide to edit it, the rectangular things suspended in midair are the environment lights.

Here's the front entryway:

The main part of the house is open concept, with a kitchen, living room and dining room. Since this was meant to be a pared-down build using minimal packs, there's no washer & dryer, but you could add one. Also, these are basic furnishings and I've just "staged" it for the photo tour. I'm going to change a lot of this for my own use, and anyone who downloads it can feel free to do the same.

Here is the bathroom:

This is what I like to call a 1.5 bedroom home. The nursery and bedroom are technically the same room, but there's the half wall to create a bit of a distinction between the two areas.

The pond is fully functional (and decorative):

If you download this lot for your own use, feel free to edit it however you wnat. All I ask is that you don't claim it as yours and that you don't re-upload it or lock it behind a paywall.

Please tag me if you use it! I'd love to see!

DOWNLOAD from SFS (free, no ads)

[maqazire]

TUTORIAL OLD CGI!!

Hello!

I kind of want to explain the process of how I did the 90s cgi look and background, even if it's not thaaat alike to an actual 90s cgi look (I'll get better I promise). So, I first I divided the document a little over half, like this:

It almost looks like half but it's not, I think lol. Anyway, depending on how many circles you want is how many circles you'll add! For this one, I'll try doing 2 circles (which means more work T_T).

I placed my circles like this, since I'm workin on clip studio paint, each object is in their own respective layer so I can work on them separately as I fill out the drawing.

I'll start with the background, so I'll hide the two circles and then fill out both spaces in their own respective color to help me understand which part will be the sky and which will be the water

I'll make a new layer above the water one and start adding "texture" with the soft brush, I just add blobs of a darker blue color in lines to help divide the riples it'll have.

then on the empty spots I do the same with a lighter blue (not too white though, it has to remain more blue-ish), but I also make sure to leave empty spots of the original color. Try to follow a color palette that suits that typical 90s cgi look.

After I'm satisfied with how it turns out, I change the size of my brush to a smaller one and draw wavy white lines next to the dark blobs. Then I go to effects -> distortion -> and use the wave effect with the rectangular setting.

You can use whatever settings you like, but since I kind of want that pixelated look, I use this one. Then, on another layer, you add more details and then repeat the same steps with a bigger brush size, it'll kinda look like this

Add the ripple effect again, you can do it however you like but I did it like this:

Then, on another layer, fill the space with a darker blue color, you can add variations of dark blue and then change the layer mode to whichever suits it best, I used substract

That's the water for now. I'll move on to the sky now. To be honest you can just use a png for it, but if you want to draw it out, with the same airbrush I just draw darker and lighter spots, then apply chunky to flat small lines of clouds. Nothing too complicated. BUT, one thing to keep in mind is that the middle that separates the sky of the water will be white.

I'll now add the whites and blues to the whole thing to make them match. Just play around with the colors and brush until you're satisfied with what you get.

Now it's time for the balls. I'll work on the bigger one first, a thing to note about the old cgi style is the hard shadows and the shiny plastic-like look, I fill out the balls with the bucket tool and then shade them, the position of the ball within the drawing is very important, since I want it to be closer to the screen, I'll shade it as so.

The next part is just to smooth it out a bit from darker colors to lighter.

I'm satisfied with this so I'll move on to the next one.

I've been staring at this for a while now so it kind of looks like the smaller ball is closer to me lol, but it's not, I'll fix it later. What I do now is I merge the layers I used to shade with each ball layer and then duplicate them, they will be our reflection shadows in the water.

I go above the water layer again and place the duplicates there. I select them, edit them, flip them and then I changed their layer mode into linear burn and set their transparency level to 40%. I also made the blue ball even bigger and fixed the shadows a bit in the smaller one.

and that's it basically. The rest I'd do would be to mess with color modes, auto actions, add more waves, etc. to change their vibe and to pixelate them a bit. Just have fun, look at some inspo and mess around with whatevever art program you use :D

Example: Here I messed around with the colors and added more waves!

[technicolorfamiliar]

The Wandering Jew Dir. Maurice Elvey 1933

[Note: This film along with 1934's Jew Süss set Conrad Veidt apart from many of his German film actor peers. While he was not Jewish, many of his close friends and colleagues -- not to mention his wife Lily -- were, and he was committed to portraying these deeply complicated and sympathetic characters with as much care and empathy as humanly possible. You can see it in his performance. These films are what got his work banned in Germany in the '30s and painted a huge target on his back. Later he would double down and donate most of his acting paychecks to the British war effort, and arrange to help friends and family who were in danger of violence in Germany safely get out of the country. Maybe it's not necessary to mention all this, but just in case I want to make it abundantly clear where he stood.]

When I first saw this movie about a year ago, I couldn't get into it. It didn't help that I only watched the shorter version on Youtube. The poor quality of the picture and audio, plus a mostly terrible cast, made it a tough watch. But I wanted to give The Wandering Jew a second chance, if only for the Conrad Veidt of it all, and I'm glad I did. So over the course of the first weekend in November, I watched both versions: the shorter, much-censored version and the digitally restored version with over 20 minutes of additional material.

---

After watching the two existing/available copies of the film, I definitely think both are necessary if you want to get the whole picture.

Unfortunately, the shorter version is in semi-rough shape and the audio is pretty garbled, but the edits are smoother which helps individual scenes and lines make more sense. There's more air in this version; the director clearly wanted to give the actors, especially Connie, room to breathe, and it not only helps the pacing but the atmosphere of the film as well. However, the shorter version is missing several important and interesting moments due to some heavy-handed censorship.

The longer version has a cleaner picture and slightly clearer audio, but some of the dialogue gets randomly chopped up and there are abrupt cuts that make the film jumpy and take away from the languid atmospheric feeling that in retrospect I think actually makes the film work. Or at least tries to make it work. And, being the longer version, there are key scenes that made it past the censors: all the scenes related to leprosy; the aggressive anti-semitic stuff at the Renaissance Faire crusaders camp; and a great line Matathias delivers in an added scene in Act IV, "All men are Christians. All men are Jews. The faith is only a mask, it does not make a man what he is." MIC DROP, AIR HORNS. There's also a wild scene where Renaissance Faire crusade era Matathias cackles at Anne Grey's crucifix for well over a minute. But for whatever reason, the longer version is missing random things too, like the forward, which isn't entirely necessary but if you're presenting your film in a kind of storybook style, a written forward makes sense.

And there is an illustrative, storybook quality to the film. The costumes and sets feel like something out of a N.C. Wyeth painting or even vaguely Pre-Raphaelite at times. It's heavily romanticized and I think this threw me the first time I saw the movie. But it makes sense, the story is a parable after all. And yet, while you're going in that direction, why not go bigger, why not compose each shot with even more care? I know they shot this movie in 1933, but all I want is some vision and intentionality in the cinematography and staging, dang it! I do like the two moments when Jesus is speaking and his dialogue is only shown as text. We don't see or hear him, but everyone else in the shot is frozen and the sound drops out. Time seems to stop for a few seconds. But nothing else in the film really manages to match those moments stylistically.

I feel like a broken record saying this, but Connie's performance once again carries the entire film. Pretty much everyone else is just so bad, the women in particular. Seriously, sound was being used in films at this point for over 5 years -- so why is everyone in this movie doing this style of acting that is maybe only acceptable for huge stage productions? Three of the four lead actresses are legitimately the worst. The only exception is Peggy Ashcroft in Act IV who isn't great, but at least she's a better scene partner. That could also have something to do with the first three women being annoyingly pious, and Act IV's Olalla is just a more interesting and better-written character. In Act I, the woman playing Judith barely engages with Connie. Sure, she's dying, but she's dying like she's on stage in some 2000+ seat West End theater. And the wife in Act III is literally giving Connie nothing to work with, nothing! There's so little believable intimacy in these women's performances that it really makes the movie suffer as a whole. Maybe that's harsh, maybe that's what the director wanted, but I think about Connie's other British films from this time and their lead actresses -- Madeleine Carroll, Jill Esmond, etc -- weren't nearly as painfully awful.

Though this is Connie's fifth English language film, it almost seems like he's still getting his sea legs as an actor in the British studio system. Maybe with the exception of I Was A Spy, his previous English films were all roles for a character actor, and so Matathias was the first opportunity he had to really show off his range. I have no idea if they shot in sequence -- unlikely -- but from Act I to Act IV he seems like he's progressively carving out a foundation for his future work in British films. After The Wandering Jew, he was off and running with a great series of meaty and fascinating roles. Josef Süss, The Stranger, even Convict 83 have some roots in the performance he gives in this movie.

Matathias is a role an actor would consider one of their crowning achievements but would probably never want to play again. He's incredibly demanding and challenging, very likely made even more so by Connie's uniquely holistic and intense method of preparing for a role. Even though there are moments when his performance comes across as a little stilted, that could be more due to him trying to match the tone of the film itself, especially early in the narrative when he's a little flat -- he has to start like that so he has somewhere to go with the character. There's zero humor or levity in the script so Connie had to humanize Matathias through his journey across time by incorporating moments of deep compassion and the pain of loss, shame and regret, and ultimately complete surrender.

No other actor would believe the story and its message enough to pull off the heart-wrenching performance Connie gives in this film.

Act I Matathias is a difficult guy in a fabulous robe (the sleeves!). He's clearly selfish, but not really cruel. After all, he and everyone else know that the woman he loves does not belong to him and were she to go home to her husband, she would most definitely not survive whatever violence awaited her there. And Matathias does not allow harm to come to her, at least not in that way. His selfishness means he'll keep her at any cost, meaning he refuses to see how ill she really is. But he's not a bad guy, he's just a regular person in a very difficult situation which makes his impulse to bitterly lash out at Christ understandable. But there is some part of him that does believe because it doesn’t take much for him to get on board with the whole curse thing. With very little convincing, he appears to be resigned to his fate. But that's fine, we have to move the story along, after all.

The cruelty comes out more in Act II. The Unknown Knight just wants to fight, feast, and get his freak on. Connie gets to be pretty aggressively sexual (good god, the way he grabs that woman) and blasphemous in this section ("Blasphamy, blaspha-you, blaspha-everybody in the room!"), especially for the early 1930s, so no wonder it's one of the shorter acts. His haircut might be hideous, but his veiny forearms are, uh, real nice (as are all the long shots of his exposed throat and sternum throughout the film). Confession time: it took me three viewings to get the whole leprosy thing. Judith has it in Act I, so does the guy who wanders into the camp in Act II, and the sick boy in Act IV as well. The son in Act III is bit by a snake, but it could be something to do with snakes = the devil or something, idk. The appearance of sickness/leprosy always signals a lesson Matathias has to learn, or signals the ending or beginning of something important. So his reaction to Renaissance Faire Babe's rejection isn't really about her at all, which is revealed in the longer edit of the film. He hears the leper's bell and mutters, "Unclean…," before letting Ren Faire Babe discover her murdered husband. Matathias may not have killed the man, but he continues to leave behind a trail of death and destruction as some kind of act of defiance against the curse of wandering the earth until such undetermined time as Jesus will appear to him again. By making his life dangerous, he flaunts how he is able to cheat death, but when he hears the leper's bell and is reminded of the events that set him on this path, he realizes he can't go on like this, that there has to be something else, something more. I like how the shot of Connie at the end of this section echoes the end of Act I, suggesting he still has a long journey ahead before he can hope to reach own end.

So when we next see him, he's a merchant and family man living in Palermo named Matteo. Instead of causing mayhem everywhere he goes, he's trying to build something, maybe even a legacy. This is my least favorite part of the movie, but the way Connie shows Matteo's heartbreak, first at the death of his son and later at losing his wife to the Church, is something else. When Gianella tells him she's leaving, he goes through each of the stages of grief in like two minutes and we can see it happen in his face and in his body language. The way his knees buckle and he slowly crumples to the floor, ugh. Also, shout out to the attention to detail in this film. If you look closely at the beginning of Act III, Connie's fingernails look ink-stained like he's been writing and handling documents all day. Not to mention the fact that he wears the same onyx ring throughout, and the same necklace in Acts I and IV. I also thought it was interesting how the music cut out when Mateo is handed his dying child, it immediately reinforces the gravity of the scene. This movie did not come to play.

Act IV, set in Seville, is by far the best part of the whole film. And I'm not just saying that because Care-giver!Connie is doing things to my brain. How sweet and gentle he is with his patients, the way he keeps looking up to check in with Olalla when he's treating her broken ankle, the way he murmurs and coos little things under his breath like "Come on, let's try a little walk…" and "Ohh, what's the matter, my boy" that sound totally improvised. That's the good stuff, right there. And when Olalla says, "There's magic in your hands." I BET. This whole fourth act is just Connie kicking in the door of 1930s British cinema. The scene in front of the Inquisition alone is the most powerful and important part of the movie. Connie manages to fill Matteo with such humanity and empathy by the end of the film that it's practically radiating out of him. In an otherwise one-dimensional film he brings real, complicated, fascinating, tragic and beautiful life to this legendary figure. It's astonishing.

Is it a good movie? Not really. Is it an important movie made at a critical time in history, as a statement against anti-semitism on behalf of the filmmakers and cast? Of course it is. Despite the mild annoyance of needing to watch two different versions of the same film, and needing some patience with the tone and supporting cast's performances -- it definitely helps to be in the right mood going in -- it really is essential viewing in the Conrad Veidt canon, especially if you're interested in his work as an actor. I mean, just watch this movie and bask in the glow of his radiant, spiritual performance. Bask in it!

In the end, I'm glad I gave 1933's The Wandering Jew a second chance.

P.S. Connie looks unbelievably stunning in this movie. His costumes, wigs and facial hair are all basically perfect. The silhouettes and lines of his robes, the details in his jewelry and accessories. He really knew how to wear the clothes so they wouldn't wear him. He must have been a costume designer's dream. Or nightmare (he can be your angle;;… or yuor devil).

[generalb]

Holy cards update Batman! That’s right, it’s time for another drop of cards for my custom Godzilla set! Featuring a new attempt beyond the standard mold, some necessary fixes, and as always, a few new cards!

First off we have these two cards which as you may know were already created, so why are they here? Well, embarrassingly, I forgot their P/T! A kind tumblrina pointed out the team up for me, but I found the Ghidorah mishap on my own.

Another big change for Ghidorah is that he now gives other Kaiju Prowess. I realized as I was taking the time to fix it that I haven’t really given him(or any other card) an effect that dealt with the new Kaiju subtype. Since I’ve gone with the angle of instants and sorceries for his ability that also holds no precedent, I figured that I can kill two birds with one stone. Now Ghidorah will pump up those that bow to the King!

(Edit: fixed a typo and added the…hitpoints? Toughness? Idk)

Second, we have a new attempt! My previously different formatted card was a Saga, which has precedent in plenty of Universes Beyond sets, but this is treading new ground by introducing a Battle! I realized as I was watching Shin Godzilla for quotes and Vehicles that Kaiju invade cities all the time, leading to humans creating forces to counteract; so, with constant comparison to the previous existing Battles for what could be fair but not broken, I came up with what you see!

What I’ve come to realize is that Battles have two interesting components to them: both sides of the card support one ideal, and the flip side has to be worth it enough for others to want to attack/defend it. Let me explain the first reason a bit better: something I didn’t realize until I was actually focusing on the battles is that if the force was invading a place with a specific theme, the card will support the invaded theme on both sides. For example, they invade the Elf dimension, so the front side makes Elf Tokens and the back is an Elf who’s P/T is the number of lands you control. I had no clue. So, as I was thinking of the deck this will go in, I made the front have artifact recursion and the back have human support! It also makes several human tokens, so anyone who beats it gets a somewhat decent defense of at least 6 toughness (three 1/1s getting +1/+1). That’s enough to block a Godzilla on principle(even tho Godzilla has Intimidate lol. Gotta use those Vehicles!).

Something else you might notice is the wording. As always, I want my cards to be accurate to the game as I know it, and with the newest sets I’ve learned that etb effects are now written as “enters”, for streamlining. The battle, too, is modern; they’re actually bringing back Invasion of Innistrad for the Remastered set, and the modern one has the “when this battle enters,” so it’s completely accurate(except for the flavor text lol).

And finally, three more new cards! The last two are going to go into the Ghidorah Precon, and the Aura will be in both, and radiation absorption appears to be something all Kaiju do. Except maybe Kong. But him and skull island are outliers honestly. But the Aura actually gave me a realization. You see, the Godzilla deck will have big creatures with big mana. Naturally, it’s going to need a lot of mana ramp, which fortunately enough I don’t have to do much of since Wizards have already made a big creatures precon(cough cough, Pantlaza, cough cough). However, what’s there to do when you have all your lands, all your big guys, and no card draw? Make them bigger and draw a card of course! As for the other two, they are based on the abilities of their signature Kaiju respectively, albeit I have Gravity Beams some much needed help when compared to other 3 mana Izzet Spells.

Usually, I’d include a poll here to ask if my cards are OP, but that’s touch work and it’s already part midnight. I’m mistyping every other word at this point and autocorrect is working overtime. So, if you have feedback, you’ll have to given it to me straight! I always appreciate good criticism! Have a good night y’all

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Could you elaborate on your comment on Discord? I would specifically like to know why The Owl House is bad at consistency:

This is Dana [Terrace]'s first time as a showrunner (granted [Gravity Falls] was also Alex Hirsche's [sic] first show as well). But all of the writing mistakes we have talked about point to a team that struggled with basic world-building, character dynamics, consistency, etc.

So this one's going to be a two-fer since the questions are similar.

First off, writing in film and television is always a team effort; writers plan, storyboard, revise, edit, and bounce ideas off each other when creating the script. Second, any first time show runner will have difficulties helming their show by virtue of being inexperienced. That's not indicative of them being a bad writer but a novice one.

I don't believe it's helpful to classify anyone as a "good" or "bad" writer based on one piece of work because even a world-famous and world-renowned author can produce a dud. That's just the nature of the creative process.

So when you ask what went wrong in the writing process you really have to know what that specific writing process was. For TOH, I don't know what that was; looking at the list of episodes and the staff responsible, it looks like they pretty much had the same roster of people throughout the run of the show. So any inconsistencies in the plot, character development, etc. cannot be blamed on a changing staff.

If I were to hazard a guess as to why the show is so structurally flawed, I would guess it's due to a lack of discipline. TOH likes to speed run through character arcs to get to the big dramatic moments and not really put in the work to get there. Just look at how quickly Luz and Amity went from rivals to OTP in half a season or how quickly Lilith was forgiven despite being a major antagonist for pretty much all of season 1. They wanted to get to Lumity and Cool Aunt Lilith right away without putting in the work to get there.

And yes, the cancellation did play a role in the show speed running through season 3 HOWEVER the writers also added in the Collector as a secondary antagonist without dealing with Belos first. The result was a character that took a lot of time away from established characters and plot lines and his own subplot resulted in his character being stripped of anything interesting or unique and just another Sad Boy for the audience to coddle.

Again, this is due to lack of discipline and wanting to cram characters and concepts into the show without stopping to think if it is beneficial to the overall story or not.

In the end, what separates a "good" writer from a "bad" one is that good writers will acknowledge their mistakes and fix them while poor ones keep repeating the same mistakes or make even bigger ones.

I hope this answers your question because without knowing how the writers chose to approach their story and why they made the decisions they did, I can only point out the flaws and what that means for the show as a whole.

[calmasyoghurt]

The joker out pride project.

*goes into 'edit tags' on ao3, clicks the box to ad relationships, starts typing*

Time jump to 2018. Also on ao3.

June 15th promt 20. Coming out as intersex.

Getting Kris and Jan on the band is probably still one of the best things Bojan has ever done. Their styles of playing are different, sure, but they sound so good together. With their help, the past two years have been filled with songwriting, music competitions and performances. Throw in some band practices and a few parties in the the mix, and the result is a group of teenagers living their best lives. 

Sure, the plan from the start had only really been to befriend Kris so that a stupid, non-existing crush would go away. The befriending part had gone really well, Bojan considers Kris as one of his best friends by now. But the disappearance of romantic feelings? Nah, they’d turned in to a not so stupid, very existing crush. How pathetic, the only real crushes Bojan had ever had, had both been on friends slash bandmates. 

Not that either of them were ever going to find out about that. Or, at least Bojan wouldn’t tell them. Martin and Kris are both smart, and maybe Bojan isn’t the best at hiding feelings. But so far, nobody had brought it up, so hopefully that must mean that neither Kris nor Martin had figured anything out.

That is of course until a band practice in mid July. It’s a really good practice, one where everything sounded good. But what happens afterwards is even better. Jan’s car is broken at the moment, so he has to run in order to catch his bus home. Martin has to leave too, he’s working in a supermarket over the summer and has a shift. Matic leaves with an excuse about visiting his grandma, and suddenly Bojan and Kris are left to lock up the rehearsal room all by them selfs. It’s a quick task, just checking that everything is turned off before locking the door, but when it’s done, neither of them leave. They just stand there in silence for a minute until Kris finally says something. 

"So... do you want to hang out or something? You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I was just thinking since you weren’t leaving-". Bojan cuts him off before he can continue rambling. 

"I'd love to hang out. How about we try that new ice cream place?" 

It's only a quick walk away, a place near the river selling some delicious looking ice cream. Upon arrival, Kris gets one scoop of strawberry sorbet, and then he insists on paying for Bojan's chocolate scoop. They end up sitting on a bench, talking about a new song they're working on, until Bojan has finished his ice cream. Kris however, has only eaten half of his, and is now drawing patterns in his pink, half-melted mush.

"Not hungry?", Bojan asks, because he can't think of anything else to say. But instead of answering, Kris says something so unexpected that Bojan might faint. 

"Can this be a date? Can this please be the time where we admit our feelings for each other? You like me too, I know you do".

Bojan is too stunned to say any words that together make a scentense. He is however aware he's saying words. Words like 'yes' and 'please'. Kris just watches him stammer with a smile on his lips growing bigger. And then it's as if he's heard enough. Kris looks the empty street up and down as if to make sure no one is watching, before giving Bojan a quick, soft kiss.

It's way too quick for Bojan to be satisfied, but he doesn't have time to kiss Kris again before the street isn't empty anymore. It is a popular pedestrian street after all. 

"Let's do this- let's do that again sometime, please", Bojan says instead.

Not even a day passes before the wait becomes unbearable. Bojan simply must get another kiss from Kris, so he goes to Kris' apartment and hopes that he's home. Luckily, Kris is not only home, but also home alone. He invites Bojan to his bedroom, and together they spend a good amount of time on Kris' bed, making out.

"I think my family will be home soon", Kris says after a while, before placing another kiss on Bojan's lips. 

"Okay. So, full stop now or do you not mind if your parents finds you like this?".

"Do you not mind if Miha 'Gušti' Guštin finds you making out with his son?".

"Way to kill the mood". But that day is not the only day with a mood. The following two weeks are full of days with moods, and as soon as they're alone, Bojan gets to kiss the guy he's had a crush on for the past two years. Scrap that, Bojan gets to kiss the guy he's had a crush on since the first time they met.

Early August is upon them by the time Bojan feels the need to clear things up. His parents are away for the weekend, and Kris is staying over. Bojan's been meaning to bring it up before, but it's to difficult. But he has to say it. If anyone will understand, it's Kris. 

"I need to tell you something", he says while picking at an uneaten edge of the pizza they've bought. "It's about, well, sex".

"Oh. Yeah, sure, we should definitely talk about that" Kris says, and he almost looks relieved. Bojan guesses he's been meaning to bring the same subject up. 

"So, basically, if you don't want to have sex then I'm totally fine with that. But if you do want to, then I want you to know that I am totally okay with whatever you have, uhm, down there". It’s not the only thing he has to say, but Bojan has to pause for a second in order to appreciate Kris' giggles. 

"One more thing. It’s about me. I- I was at the doctors a while ago. They think I have something called Klinefelters syndrome. It gives me some more feminine features in the- around the chest and hip areas. Oh and apparently it makes the... testicles smaller". Bojan hadn't expected it to be so difficult to talk about this, but it is. It's so difficult. He can barely get the words out, and looking at Kris is completely out of the question.

"That's okay with me. I know what it's like to have those kinds of features. And hey, at least you have testicles, and I'm guessing you even have a dick. That's more than what I have. I'm totally okay with whatever you have down there too, okay? We'll figure this out together". Kris' words could make Bojan cry, but he blinks the tears away the best he can. A quick kiss finds it's way on to Bojan's cheek and then Kris goes to get some more pizza. Bojan could live in this moment forever. 

[filmprojectguenolerainbird]

Better Safe than Sorry -- Rehearsals, Shot List & Test Shoot

Based on the video Isaac and Alix had shot on the phone and the storyboards, I made a blocking plan for the long take (Green Camera). I added a second long take (Red Camera) to start at a later point and that would merge back into the first take in case we couldn't do it in one shot and had to cut around it.

Camera rehearsals

After picking up the equipment, I did some camera rehearsals with Isaac. Isaac was able to give me instant feedback on what he liked and didn't like about the takes. I also rehearsed and took notes regarding the camera direction/adjustments I had to make at different moments during a take, such as adjusting the zoom and the aperture or when to PAN.

We also modified some of the shots as we were practicing them such as having the camera move around to make a side profile silhouette.

I also tested a few lights and flags, but they either didn't affect the frame or didn't look as nice, so it was decided to only use the already present window and corridor lights.

We also came up with a few extra shots for coverage in case the oner didn't work in the edit.

Floor plan & Shot list

From this, I made another floorplan with all the non-long take shots and translated it into a thorough shot list which included all my camera directions notes. I added a few extra shots for extra coverage safety. However, we then had too many shots so Isaac selected the one he wanted and adjusted some of the camera directions.

The Shoot

I set up the camera following the manual from last semester's On-set production and set up the white balance. We had to do extra camera rehearsals with Aliya as she was going at a totally different speed as Isaac when I rehearsed with him.

Dynamic Range Issues

I was struggling to get enough dynamic range for the transition from the staircase to the outside. For the staircase, I was using the camera at its widest aperture (F4) with a 10 000 ISO -- any more the noise would have been too distracting. Because of the long take, I couldn't use any extra lights as they would show in the frame. The staircase lights weren't adjustable. I couldn't use the variable ND filter in the staircase as it added an initial layer of filter which darkened the footage too much. Moreover, any darker and the frame was both not readable as well as the autofocus had nothing to grab onto.

The aperture was the only thing I could control on the fly during takes, but even going from F4 for the indoors to F22 as I crossed the entrance door to outside had the outdoors overblown.

I then had the idea to use an invisible cut just as the character leaves the building through a fade to white. We recorded the end bit in the street separately from the rest of the take, using the variable ND to manage the light levels.

Things to be improved

I still think the moment when she reaches the bottom of the stairs and sees the door open is not conveyed well, I think sound design may help with this moment.

I doubled the resolution of the ECUs on the computer screen so that they can be zoomed in digitally by the editor if needed. However, I think this wasn't enough and that these shots need to be filmed from further away in an even higher resolution so as to have the whole screen in focus. The current shots have some important text that is out of focus. I also think the website needs to be designed with the text size in mind as I asked the text to be made bigger for the shot, which then changed the shapes of some paragraphs.

I think the team is pretty satisfied with the shoot and the footage and like the messiness of some of the footage for the energy it gives. I still don't think it's perfect and I think some of the messiness makes the action not readable at times. The bottom of the staircase is still somewhat underlit with the shadows getting crushed and becoming murky.

I also think narrative-wise the start is very slow and expositioney, it takes a good 2 and a half min before the character is actually confronted with a situation and takes action.

Overall it was a very good shoot, that's 50% of the final film already figured out for my role as DoP.

[alt-controller-project]

Chess-Based Games

1] Chessboard Kingdoms

Chessboard Kingdoms is a turn-based strategy game that uses the pieces and movement of chess, but abandons pretty much everything else. Similar to Battle Of Polytopia, it has city-building mechanics which will allow the king to raise new units. Unfortunately, this combined with the unchanged unit speed but greatly increased map size heavy incentivises defensive play - if the enemy king charges you with his units, you'll have enough turns to construct a town and raise a whole army to fight him. This means that Chessboard Kingdoms games can become very slow and lethargic, not dissimilar to late-game HOI4.

That being said, despite it's questionable balancing Chessboard Kingdoms is an interesting game. The way it expands on chess is the opposite to what I'm doing - rather than add to chess, it adds chess to a new game. These are both justifiable approaches but I probably wouldn't have the time to use Chessboard Kingdom's approach as it nescessitates creating a game bigger than chess. Having said that, I could well take inspiration from Chessboard Kingdoms newer units and how they're balanced - I even though of a new unit I could implement via a tarot card: the Hopalite, who can move up to three spaces diagonally or orthoganally, but only towards the enemy's side of the board [like a heavier pawn].

2] Really Bad Chess

Really Bad Chess takes the exact same approach as to me in how they iterate on chess - rather than use chess's mechanics in a new game, it makes 1 precise and deliberate change which completely changes how the game is played. Really Bad Chess completely randomises what units everyone has. This puts both players in vastly different starting positions each game, and as such they will have to take different approaches with regards to what they have.

Having said that, Really Bad Chess is horribly [and intentionally] poorly balanced. It takes Chess's delicate balancing and flips the board - so given how the starting positions are random, some can be completely miserable to play. However, this game has shown me that even if my game isn't well-balanced, so long as it's fun to play, it'll be well-liked.

3] 5D Chess With Multiversal Time Travel

I have made no secret of the fact that I don't like this game. I also don't think it's very good. This is because I feel that it adds a lot to chess, without actually making the game anymore fun - it's talking loud, but not saying much. the multiverse mechanic, whilst unique and interesting, can be incredibly infuriating to deal with. This is due to the ability to get a player in check by going back in the past. Chess's best feature is it's simplicity and balance - this is what Monopoly: Cheater's Edition is to Monopoly - it makes Chess far more complicated without integrating its added mechanics into the gameplay. You can play this version of chess with infinitely more complicated mechanics, but never engage with them if you don't underestand them. Whilst I do like that the player doesn't need to time-travel, why play this version if you don't want to?

I intend to avoid using a design philosophy that 5D Chess seems to have used. Where Really Bad Chess made 1 change which flipped the game dynamic on it's head and Chessboard Kingdoms integrated chess mechanics into a new game, 5D Chess makes a massive change that doesn't improve the game and the player can walk past. I should try to avoid this mistake by properly integrating my mechanics into the chess formula and communicating with the player as to what they can do in this new version and how it works - this would be helped by keeping my changes as simple as possible.

4] Chessaria

Chessaria is to Chess what Raid: Shadown Legends is to a good video game - well, without the terrible developers and monetisation. Chessaria uses the chess pieces in a fantasy environment, turning the pieces into individual characters. The enemy pieces, however, are pretty much pawn or pawn-adjacent pieces with no variation between them. This means that the gameplay can get stale very quickly - behind all the generic Unity asset pack graphics and animations, the gameplay is Chess but you're just fighting pawns.

The mistake that this game made is focussing on how they could make chess like another game, but failing to recognises where chess's strengths lie and failing to properly untilise them - namely, in being balanced towards both sides and completely fair and skill-based. I will try to not make this mistake by prioritising adding to chess, rather than trying to transform it completely.